Calif. Dem rips White House 'inaction'

The California Democratic congressman went out with guns blazing Thursday, torching the Obama administration as he revealed he would not run for reelection in 2012 .

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The typical congressional retirement statement offers a grateful appreciation of country and constituency, a recitation of accomplishments and a requisite nod to the sacrifices made by family and friends.

Cardoza offered all of that, but went one angry step farther.

In an unusual departure from House custom — and a stunning breach of political etiquette — the five-term Democrat ripped the White House in sharp and politically loaded terms, providing ammunition that its GOP enemies will be certain to use for the foreseeable future.

“Looking back on disappointments, I am dismayed by the Administration’s failure to understand and effectively address the current housing foreclosure crisis,” Cardoza said in his statement. “Home foreclosures are destroying communities and crushing our economy, and the Administration’s inaction is infuriating.”

It was just two sentences in a lengthy statement that also lamented superficial media coverage of Congress and the harsh tone of political discourse. But coming from a veteran member of the president’s party they were lines that were certain to echo through official Washington.

House Democratic aides and party strategists, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they were taken aback by the harshness of Cardoza’s message — he’s not known as a bomb-thrower — and couldn’t recall any recently departing member tossing such a grenade on their way out the door.

“This is beyond odd and clearly a reflection of Democrats’ frustration with this president and administration,” said one Democratic strategist who is a veteran of House races.

Cardoza’s office declined an interview request and refused to elaborate on the criticism of the administration. Spokesman Sean Trambley said he would “let [Cardoza’s] statement speak for itself.”

The congressman’s frustration with the White House is rooted in the housing crisis that has devastated California’s Central Valley region, and his unhappiness with the administration is well-known. His office regularly flooded reporters’ in-boxes with statements and letters criticizing the administration over what he argued was its lack of care and interest in addressing home foreclosures.

“It’s been a constant theme of his for the last six years,” said Mike Lynch, a Cardoza political adviser and former chief of staff to his predecessor, ex-Rep. Gary Condit. “He’s found the federal responsibility to the housing crisis to be wanting in several different ways.”

In some instances, Cardoza would direct his fire at Obama directly – on several occasions, he publicly invited the president to tour his district to get a look at the damage for himself. But his main target was Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, whom he at one point called on to resign.

In August 2010, Cardoza sent a scathing letter to the president hammering Donovan for blithely writing a letter in the Fresno Bee, his local paper, touting the declining home foreclosure rate in the Central Valley as proof that the administration’s housing policies were working.